Daddy's Office (again)

We went back to Daddy's office to deliver our Cinnamon Toasted Almonds and to see the decorations.

I'm not sure what you think of when you picture a law firm's Christmas decoration...but I guarantee the pictures you are about to see are not what popped into your head.



(that's Adam's office doorway on the right)

They have multiple blow up decorations...



The Abominable Snowman...



And the boys are always a fan of the penguins...which are year-round decor items.



While it is not your typical corporate holiday decoration...I think it is a really fun and unexpected tradition. And the boys loved it!

More Christmas Fun

Christmas Parade...



A Gingerbread House with Mimi...





Gumdrop Tree...



Dressing up like the Wisemen...



Lovingly wrapped presents for Mama from her boys...




What fun!

Holiday Baking - Cinnamon Toasted Almonds

The Holiday Granola was well received last year, so we decided to make another edible gift this year - Cinnamon Toasted Almonds!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients



2 egg whites
6 teaspoons Spice Islands® pure vanilla extract
4 cups unblanched almonds
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

*In a large bowl, beat egg whites until frothy; beat in vanilla.
*Add almonds; stir gently to coat.
*Combine the sugars, salt and cinnamon; add to nut mixture and stir gently to coat.
*Spread evenly into two greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans.
*Bake at 300° for 25-30 minutes or until almonds are crisp, stirring once. Cool.
*Store in an airtight container. Yield: about 4 cups.



We quadrupled this recipe and I made a few changes each time I made the recipe:

*I used the Convection option on my oven and reduced the temp to 280.
*I sprinkled a little cinnamon sugar at the very end of baking.
*I had Carter sample each batch for approval and each time he said "good".



Happy Baking!

A Christmas Songfest

We got to see Carter's Christmas Songfest at his school on Wednesday. He had been practicing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" at home so I thought that would be the only song his class sang. I was very surprised when all classes stood on stage and sang for 30 minutes! It was really cute.

Here are a few of my favorite clips...

The Processional:



"Bells Are Ringing"



"We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

Santa and Museum

We decided to visit Santa a little earlier this year - before the big kids are out of school - and boy did it make a huge difference. The past two years we have waited a couple of hours to see the Legendary Santa at our Children's Museum. Today we walked right in and sat on Santa's lap right away!

The boys did really well. Carter asked Santa for a Veggies Tales book and he asked for a Teddy Bear for Ben. What a sweetie. :)



After the visit with Santa we enjoyed some museum time.

Digging up bones...



Water play...



Getting money at the ATM...



And art time...



We were running from one exhibit to the next when Carter stopped and said "I want to make something for Daddy!"

He told me he wanted to write "From Ben, Mama, and Carter at the Museum" so I lightly drew some letters for him to trace. Then we made Daddy a wreath by cutting out the center of a paper plate, painting it green, then cutting up some red berries to glue on the wreath. Carter was so proud of his art for daddy and we can't wait for him to get home to see it!

Daddy's Office

We always enjoy going to Daddy's office for lunch. But our visit to Daddy's office last night was way more exciting!

First there were trains...



And then there were reindeer!





And a really big Christmas tree...



There was lots of chasing and laughing and hiding.

We skipped out on the "Grand Illumination" last Friday night and enjoyed having all of the reindeer mostly to ourselves. This holiday season is off to a great start!

So I don't forget...

The boys have some really cute phrases/mannerisms right now that I just don't want to forget...so here they are:

B: He says "choo choo" whenever he hears anything that sounds like a train or sees one. And when he says "choo choo" it is more like "chooooooooooooo choooooooooooooooooo!" and he clinches his whole body in excitement.

C: Sometimes he will tell me something random and then end with "you know that mama?" I just think it is really cute.



B: Wants to be just like big brother right now. A couple of days ago, C had to sit in his thinking spot for pushing Ben (I think). What does B do? He goes to sit beside C in his thinking spot.

C: can write his name all by himself! We have been working on lots of "mail" lately and he has really enjoyed tracing letters. Well, the other day his "mail" to me included his name, written ALL BY HIMSELF (no tracing). It was even spelled correctly.



B: He is so ready to talk! But until he can physically say more words he expresses himself by a sound that reminds me of seals barking.

C: Pretty sure he is going to be a lefty like his mama.

Those are just a few that I wanted to jot down tonight...love my boys!